Android OS Tops Smartphone Market

The Android mobile operating system was found on three out of every four smartphones shipped in the third quarter of 2012, according to a recent report from International Data Corporation (IDC). The report says 136 million Android units were shipped, making up 75 percent of the roughly 181 million total smartphones shipped during the quarter. IDC notes that Android’s growth rate of 91 percent was nearly double that of the overall market and that Samsung again led vendors in the Android phone space.

The report shows Apple’s iOS in second place with 14.9 percent of market share, and BlackBerry in third at just over 4 percent at the end of the quarter. However, IDC points out that BlackBerry 10 is planned for 2013 and says “demand for BlackBerry and its wildly popular BBM service is strong within multiple key markets worldwide, and the number of subscribers continues to increase.”

The largest decline was seen by Symbian, which fell to 2.3 percent – compared to 14.6 percent in 3Q11. The major vendors now supporting Symbian are transitioning to other operating systems and are expected to cease shipping Symbian-powered smartphones in 2013, IDC said.

Microsoft’s Windows Phone shipped 3.6 million units worldwide; however, according to the report, that could change when multiple Windows Phone 8 smartphones reach the market in the fourth quarter. You can read IDC’s press release here.